Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post

swatsurgeon · 07-22-2009, 21:48

In terms of preparedness:
there are people out there that teach everything from the ridiculous to the practical...what most fail to teach is that anything done in the field is simply a stop-gap to buy time to get to the best hemostatic agent that is commercially available.......the trauma surgeon. That is not my ego talking, it is the reality of the specialty that only in the operating room or trauma resuscitation area can a person with surgical skills definitively repair most penetrating trauma.

In terms of equipment: TO STOP THE BLEEDING!!!
there are few things really necessary.
1) A tourniquet that reliably stops the flow of arterial blood or acts as a true pressure dressing, not just a snug wrap that allowscontinued significant bleeding. My preference is the SWAT-T...go to their website and look at the case that is posted.
2) hemostatic dressing. my personal choice is quik clot combat gauze and having a few of their 25 gram "tea-bags" around. Thishas been discussed in other posts.
3) 3 or 4 inch 14 or 16 gauge decompression needles for tension PTX
4) saline in any form you can store it (respiratory therapy 'bullets/squirts" that contain 5 or 10ml of saline
5) bandaids, all sizes
6) 4x4 gauze pads
7) a SAM splint...versatile uses
8) mask for rescue breathing
that's the majority of what you need to care for the acutely injured.
The training to use all of this is mandatory.......also having closest EMS agency on speed dial or helicopter support if appropriate. Meet the local EMS people and arrange a tour of your facility so that if called they know what to expect.

Good luck

07-22-2009, 21:48	#8
swatsurgeon Guerrilla Chief Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 880	In terms of preparedness: there are people out there that teach everything from the ridiculous to the practical...what most fail to teach is that anything done in the field is simply a stop-gap to buy time to get to the best hemostatic agent that is commercially available.......the trauma surgeon. That is not my ego talking, it is the reality of the specialty that only in the operating room or trauma resuscitation area can a person with surgical skills definitively repair most penetrating trauma. In terms of equipment: TO STOP THE BLEEDING!!! there are few things really necessary. 1) A tourniquet that reliably stops the flow of arterial blood or acts as a true pressure dressing, not just a snug wrap that allowscontinued significant bleeding. My preference is the SWAT-T...go to their website and look at the case that is posted. 2) hemostatic dressing. my personal choice is quik clot combat gauze and having a few of their 25 gram "tea-bags" around. Thishas been discussed in other posts. 3) 3 or 4 inch 14 or 16 gauge decompression needles for tension PTX 4) saline in any form you can store it (respiratory therapy 'bullets/squirts" that contain 5 or 10ml of saline 5) bandaids, all sizes 6) 4x4 gauze pads 7) a SAM splint...versatile uses 8) mask for rescue breathing that's the majority of what you need to care for the acutely injured. The training to use all of this is mandatory.......also having closest EMS agency on speed dial or helicopter support if appropriate. Meet the local EMS people and arrange a tour of your facility so that if called they know what to expect. Good luck __________________ 'Revel in action, translate perceptions into instant judgements, and these into actions that are irrevocable, monumentous and dreadful - all this with lightning speed, in conditions of great stress and in an environment of high tension:what is expected of "us" is the impossible, yet we deliver just that. (adapted from: Sherwin B. Nuland, MD, surgeon and author: The Wisdom of the Body, 1997 ) Education is the anti-ignorance we all need to better treat our patients. ss, 2008. The blade is so sharp that the incision is perfect. They don't realize they've been cut until they're out of the fight: A Surgeon Warrior. I use a knife to defend life and to save it. ss (aka traumadoc) Last edited by swatsurgeon; 07-22-2009 at 23:08.
swatsurgeon is offline